"Everyone knows everything..." - Lilys

So just an update on the Junkmedia situation, in case you read the last post about it being down. We're back up and running, and I've been blogging since the 16th. The larger Junkmedia publication is likely going to be overhauled with the blog as its main focus which is cool. No telling when that will happen, but hopefully the laundry list of technical improvements (searchability, RSS feed, etc.) will be enacted during that process. Oh yeah, one more thing: Junkmedia's email is still offline as a result of the underlying technical issues (malicious infiltration of the back end of the site via the old JM message boards, which I guess were still lurking on in the background of the site). So if you have found your way here and want to speak to me regarding World of Sound business, please email me at worldofsound at gmail dot com.

"Don't stop, that's enough..." - Latimer

UPDATED 1/9 11PM [See below]: We've got no idea why Junkmedia is down this weekend, and can't get any answers out of our bosses. We'll update this space once we get some answers. We hope that we have just been inadvertently left out of the loop, and that nothing more serious is going down. We've written a few reviews that have yet to be published on the wider Junkmedia publication, and obviously we still have all the usual pots on burners for the World of Sound blog waiting for our access to the JM publishing tools to be re-established. One issue: our access to the jay (at) junkmedia (dot) org and tips (at) junkmedia (dot) org email account has also been compromised this weekend. If you need to get a hold of us and have found your way here, go over to our MySpace page and send us a message from there.

[UPDATE] Brief word from Junkmedia HQ that the issue has something to do with the hosting company, or at least that is how far the problem had been traced by the bossman, who is reportedly away on business this week. No telling when Junkmedia or World of Sound will be back online. More bulletins as events warrant.

"I will write a mystery for you to solve." - The Lilys.

Hi there everybody!! (Hi, Dr. Nick!!).

Just a quick post to point you to places I can more readily be found. I am thrilled that people keep being drawn here via Google searches and whatnot. Several people have gotten in touch to help me out with out of print or unreleased music that I've talked about here, for which I am pretty thankful. So this blog, while dormant, is still serving a purpose.

-=- People who arrive here and want to read something fresh can click over to Junkmedia's World of Sound blog, which I write and edit for the Junkmedia overlords. It launched in mid-August of 2005 and I am pretty pleased with how it is going, despite the long hours it takes. I hope that its posts about the contemporary music scene are at least as interesting as the often more archeological stuff that I wrote here.

-=- If you'd like to contact me personally, hit up my MySpace page.

Thanks again for reading.

"1-2-3 And I Come With the Wicked Style"

To paraphrase The Hold Steady, Junkmedia's got something in its sweatpants. And today we're showing it off. Welcome to the redesigned publication, and welcome to our weblog World of Sound. Here we aim to offer more background, context and opinion to complement the features and reviews we've been slinging for the last few years. World of Sound is brewing up a slate of its own features that will gently roll out over the next few weeks, so keep checking in. Want to get in touch with World of Sound? Send an email to jay at junkmedia dot org.

[Originally posted at Junkmedia's World of Sound]

You Heard It Here Second: Animal Collective, Holopaw

Relatively fresh streams abound. You can hear samples of three cuts from the forthcoming Animal Collective record Feels [Fat Cat], which streets in two months, over here at the Boomkat site. Thanks to Stereogum for the link. Fluxblog here posted an additional Animal Collective cut, "Grass," last week and claims the new material is much more accessible than the band's earlier efforts. The samples we heard were delicate, dense and melodic all at the same time -- it doesn't get too much better than that, right? Of the three, we enjoyed "Loch Raven" most, but it all sounds solid. If you can't wait around to develop your own take, access the thoughts, feelings and opinions of the hive mind of ILM here. Elsewhere, Catbirdseat points us to a stream of the new Holopaw record, which is hosted over here at Subpop.

[Originally posted at Junkmedia's World of Sound]

Pick Up The Phone

Seriously, just how long have you been waiting for the day when technology finally caught up with your searing desire to have At The Drive-In's "Invalid Litter Dept." as the ringtone on your cellphone? Or Tullycraft's "Superboy and Supergirl"? Rejoice, rejoice people, because two companies, Xingtone and Digital Rights Agency, have partnered to launch a service called Bliptones that will let you inflict your favorite brand of nerd rock on all those poor commercial radio-fed drones you have to ride the subway with every time your shizzy blows up on your hip. All you need is a compatible phone, a service provider who is on board (it looks there are seven big ones in North America) and two bucks per ringtone. Think this is a stupid idea? Believe it or not, ringtones were a four-billion dollar business globally last year -- Sasha said so. So why not cut Bratmobile in on a little chunk of the action? While there is a Death Cab tone among the 200 or so for sale, there is an obvious glaring omission: how can a service called Bliptones not offer anything from The Postal Service? [Via Billboard.biz]

[Originally posted at Junkmedia's World of Sound]

Where's The Show: Slow Dazzle

World of Sound is going to play favorites, at least a little bit. We've got some favorites, we're proud of it, let's accept we're going to talk about 'em here and move along. One of said favorites is The Mendoza Line, that rag-tag bunch of indie rockers loosely based in Brooklyn. And in case you haven't been paying attention, Mendoza Line principles Tim Bracy and Shannon McArdle put their heads together in the past year or so for a project called Slow Dazzle. The pair concocted a haunting little charmer called The View from the Floor [MP3s here] for Misra Records and they are on the road right now promoting it. Eight dates remain. So where's the show?

8/15 -- Pittsburgh, PA -- Garfield Artworks
8/16 -- Columbus, OH -- Andyman’s Treehouse
8/18 -- Minneapolis, MN -- 7th St. Entry
8/19 -- Des Moines, IA -- Vaudeville Mews
8/20 -- Urbana, IL -- Canopy Club
8/21 -- Chicago, IL -- Schuba’s
8/22 -- Madison, WI -- High Noon Saloon
8/23 -- St. Louis, MO -- Way Out Club

[Originally posted at Junkmedia's World of Sound]